


Photography is My Passion

by RaaorQtpbpdy



Category: Baka to Test to Shokanju | Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts
Genre: Friends to Lovers, High School, I mean how slow can something burn in 7500 words, M/M, Misgendering, Photography, Pre-Canon, Siblings, Slow Burn, Theatre, Tsuchiya Kouta Makes Bad Choices, ish, kind of ambiguously but still, so not that slow, year 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:26:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23182435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaaorQtpbpdy/pseuds/RaaorQtpbpdy
Summary: Kouta and Hideyoshi had an agreement. It had started in first year. Hideyoshi allowed himself to be photographed without complaint, and in return, Kouta wouldn't be such a creep about it. Nothing else was part of the deal, but it kinda just happened anyway.
Relationships: Kinoshita Hideyoshi/Tsuchiya Kouta
Comments: 6
Kudos: 38





	Photography is My Passion

Kouta sat down at his desk as the next person stood up for their introduction. That had been a close call when he dropped his camera and that returning-student-girl with the weird accent picked it up. He looked up to the front of the class to see one of the prettiest girls he'd ever seen make her introduction. Hideyoshi Kinoshita was a name he planned to remember. It was a bit odd that she was wearing a boys' uniform, but that just meant getting a pic of her in a skirt would be a challenge, and it was a challenge Kouta was quick to accept. 

He wanted to snap a photo right then and there, but that would be too suspicious. He'd have to wait for a more discreet time and place. Maybe he'd get the chance during gym class. It was hard to keep his cool at the thought of her in a gym uniform. Shorts and bare legs, running, sweating, panting... and Kouta's nose began to bleed at just the images in his imagination. He was going to become anemic in a class with Hideyoshi. 

"Dude, do you need to go to the nurse's office?" asked the guy sitting next to him.

"No, it's fine," Kouta said, pinching his nostrils closed to stop anymore blood from falling onto his desk.

"If you're sure." 

—

Over the next few days. Hideyoshi proved to be extremely photogenic, though Kouta had only managed to get shots in the school uniforms, and Hideyoshi wore the boys' uniform, even for gym. Kouta had yet to catch his subject wearing a skirt. He photographed other girls too, of course, it would be foolish of him to take pictures of just one person and neglect all the other lovely ladies at the school, but he was especially dedicated to his stunning Hideyoshi. 

It was time, he decided upon commencement of the second week of school, to make use of his ninja-like stalking skills. He followed Hideyoshi, completely unseen, camera always at the ready, looking for a chance to take a picture of his target changing, perhaps, or at least dressed more femininely. 

Oddly, Hideyoshi always tried to change in the boys' locker room for some reason, which would have been fine by Kouta, but everyone else freaked out about it. And since Hideyoshi insisted on not changing with the girls, the school ended up giving him a private changing room. 

It was about two and a half weeks into the school year when he followed Hideyoshi to the drama club room, stealthy as could be. Hideyoshi joining the drama club was very promising in regards to Kouta's many costumed fantasies. Kouta had amassed quite the gallery by the end of the first month of school. He'd even been lucky enough to get a few shots of Hideyoshi in a period costume, including corset. 

At month's end, he found a quiet corner to sort through his photos and weed out the ones that hadn't turned out right. He should have been studying, but he'd already finished with PE and health and he didn't care about the rest of the subjects. Going through his pictures, he realized that there were a majorly disproportionate number of Hideyoshi photos than any of the other girls, though he wasn't exactly _lacking_ in pictures of any sort. 

Given that he had to take the shots without anyone seeing, a lot of them had weird angles and bad lighting and weren't worth keeping, no matter how pretty the girls were. His stealth shots still needed a lot more work, though he was definitely improving. He examined a picture of a girl in a different class, a low angle from behind that was actually a nice angle, but her legs were blurry, which sucked because her legs were the best part, what a waste. 

Then he looked at some of Hideyoshi's, and somehow the lighting was always perfect. Like in one from drama club with a cute over the shoulder pose when Hideyoshi was taking directions for a scene, the stage lights highlighting sweet, rosy cheeks, reflecting off shiny, soft-looking hair. Kouta wanted to touch it, run his fingers through it, pull it. He had to move the photos so the blood slowly dripping from his nostrils wouldn't stain them, and wiped his upper lip with his sleeve. 

"That's a nice photo," remarked a voice from over Kouta's shoulder. He'd been so absorbed in his work that he hadn't noticed the guy coming up to him. "Don't suppose I could have that one?" the guy asked, trying to sound nonchalant, but clearly wanting it for his own perverse purposes, not that Kouta had any room to judge. He did, however, see an opportunity. 

"No," he said, then pulled one of the better photos of another girl, one from another class. It was a well framed, low angle back shot. The girl had a great body, and the lighting was just right, but you couldn't see much above the waist with her hair as long and wild as it was, not that that was really a problem. "But I'll sell you this one for a hundred yen." 

"Sold! But why not the other one?" the guy asked.

"A good upper body shot of a premium beauty like her goes for a premium price," Kouta explained. "Not sure it's worth selling to a first-time customer like yourself who won't properly appreciate it."

"Oh I'll appreciate it, I promise." 

"Well... I don't know..." Kouta waved the picture gently, looking pensive but careful not to bend it by being too careless. 

"Five hundred yen," the guy offered, leaning forward toward Kouta. 

"I could normally get about seven hundred for it, but I suppose if you buy the other one too... alright, you've got yourself a deal." They made the exchange, and the guy left quickly, poorly suppressing a smile. What an idiot. But hey, Kouta was six hundred yen richer, and seeing the beginnings of a new and exciting business venture. 

—

"Pardon me, Tsuchiya?" Kouta looked up from his camera to see none other than Hideyoshi standing over his desk. "You would be the one selling those weird pictures of me, would you not?" 

"What pictures?" Kouta kept his face carefully neutral.

"Like the one you're looking at on your camera right now," Hideyoshi said, raising an eyebrow. "Look, I know it's you. So could you perhaps desist?" 

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Kouta said seriously. "Taking pictures of pretty girls is my passion, and selling them to sleazy high school boys like myself is my profession. You're my best-seller, my muse, my masterpiece. I can't stop, and I won't."

"You do know I'm not a girl, right?" Hideyoshi frowned, entirely unimpressed.

"Nice try, but you can't fool me into thinking you're some guy," Kouta said. "That lie's too obvious."

"I am not lying," Hideyoshi frowned severely at him, eyebrows drawn with rising anger. "I am seriously, certainly _not_ a girl, so I kindly request to be removed from your list of targets, voyeur." 

"Whether or not you're a girl doesn't really matter at this point. Like I said, I can't just stop taking pictures of my most popular model, my sales would tank," Kouta insisted. "There's nothing you can do to make me stop, and you don't have enough proof to turn me in. I won't confess, and I'm too careful with my cameras—"

"Cameras, _plural_?"

"—Not to mention you'd have a bunch of angry, horny, teenaged boys after you if you shut me down, and I'm sure you don't want that." He had Hideyoshi cornered, and they both knew it. 

"Alright, fine. If you won't stop, how about a deal," Hideyoshi proposed. 

"I'm not splitting my profits with you."

"I don't care about that," Hideyoshi sighed. "I just think that if you're going to photograph me, I'd prefer it if you were less of a creep about it, taking stalker candids and hidden-camera shots is most indecent."

"What are you saying?" Kouta was intrigued, wondering if Hideyoshi was really about to say what he thought. 

"I'm saying, I'll let you take pictures of me, and I won't complain or demand monetary compensation, as long as you agree to a few conditions." Hideyoshi shifted over and sat on the edge of Kouta's desk. It was hard to focus with Hideyoshi's butt so close, and he couldn't stop the stream of blood from his nose, but he forced himself to stay conscious. "Number one: no more sneaking around. If you're going to take my picture, I'd rather know when and from where so that I can be ready and make sure I don't look like a fool. 

"Number two: you have to delete any and all awkward or unflattering pictures of me immediately. I don't want them ending up on the internet or something." Those shouldn't be too hard for Kouta. Actually, it would be much easier to get good shots if he didn't have to hide the camera, and Hideyoshi was so photogenic that unflattering pictures were few and far between. He actually couldn't think of any that he'd taken so far. 

"Number three: if I tell you to stop taking pictures, you will. I get that it won't be forever, but I'd like the authority to tell you that you've got enough pictures for the time being, or that it isn't the time or place to be taking them." That one might be harder, but Kouta could always just switch to stealth mode when that happened, and for some reason he felt like Hideyoshi wouldn't take advantage of that rule all that often. 

"And finally: you have to acknowledge that I'm not a girl. I am a 'he', not a 'she', and you will address me as such." Hideyoshi pointed a finger at Kouta's face dramatically, then flicked his nose. "Is all that agreeable to you?" 

"Alright, let me get this straight. No sneaking around, delete bad shots, stop when you say, and I'll call you a he, and accept that your not a girl, however!" he leaned back in his chair and gave Hideyoshi a smug look. "I won't accept that you're a guy either." Hideyoshi huffed in exasperation.

"Alright, you wanna be like _that_... if I'm not a girl, and I'm not a guy, then what do you propose I am?" He crossed his arms again and glared.

"You're just Hideyoshi. Isn't that good enough?" Hideyoshi's eyes widened in surprise and he opened his mouth to say something then shut it again. Kouta could swear the gentle, ever present blush on his cheeks grew a shade darker. 

"Whatever. So do we have a deal or what?"

"Deal." Kouta lifted his camera, adjusted the focus for such a close shot, and snapped a photo of Hideyoshi, sitting, blushing, on his desk. 

"Alright Tsuchiya, I'm going to hold you to it." 

—

Hideyoshi kinda joined Kouta's friend group after that, playing games and hanging out with the rest of the guys. He wasn't exactly sure when Hideyoshi started calling him by his first name, but that happened too, pretty early on. They mostly hung out with Yuuji and Akihisa, sometimes Minami too, but never just the two of them. 

Deal or no deal, Kouta tried not to be too obvious when he was taking photos; it ruined the authenticity, or something like that. Although with Hideyoshi, even when the camera was totally visible, he just ignored it, like he didn't care. He didn't have to care. Hideyoshi was so graceful, so soft, so radiant, that Kouta didn't think he could take a bad picture of Hideyoshi if he made it his mission in life. The sexier ones sold for a premium price, five times that of any of the girls, but there were a few that Kouta would never sell. Not even steamy ones that caused blood to gush from his nose, but... other ones.

Like the one he'd taken when they'd been stuck in after-school study hall together until it was already dark out, and Hideyoshi was reading by the window while the sun set behind him, its light made him look like an ethereal being. A few strands of his hair had fallen onto his cheek, and his face looked so peaceful. Kouta kept that photo taped to the underside his desk at home. 

Or the one where he was doubled over, clutching his stomach, and laughing like a fool at something stupid and ridiculous that Akihisa had done while they were hanging out on the weekend. His face was growing red from lack of oxygen, and tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes, and his shirt was all bunched up from the way his shoulders were shaking. It was one of the few few photos Kouta had taken where he didn't look like a total supermodel, but it was perfect. Kouta kept that photo tucked carefully between his bed frame and the wall. 

Or the one he'd taken after the drama club's first play, when Hideyoshi was in costume for the only male role he'd gotten so far, Dionysus in _The Bacchae_. It was a pretty hardcore play, with lots of ritualistic chanting, and it ended with a gruesome murder and beheading, but Hideyoshi had promised scantily clad girls, so Kouta had come. 

Hideyoshi entered halfway through the opening scene, dressed in a long, green robe thing which he'd told Kouta was a Greek chiton, and descended the hilltop set with a staff covered in vines, and a golden spotlight following him. He looked every inch the god of revelry, and Kouta almost couldn't tear his eyes away long enough to look at the scantily clad girls... almost.

Hideyoshi was still in costume when he came up to Kouta afterwards. He was smiling so brightly, still high on the thrill of performing, and Kouta couldn't resist taking a picture. Then Hideyoshi asked what he thought, and Kouta had congratulated him on a wonderful production, even though he really didn't know anything about theatre. Kouta kept that photo at the bottom of one of his dresser drawers. 

Kouta went to all of the drama club's plays after that. Just because pictures of girls in costumes sold really well, of course. It had nothing to do with the fact that it made Hideyoshi so happy, or the fact that none of their other friends ever came to the plays. And it definitely wasn't like Kouta had started thinking of the performances as 'their thing' obviously, because that would be silly. They were the drama club's things, not just his and Hideyoshi's, not his at all, he wasn't even in the drama club. 

Kouta had about eight or nine photos like that, forbidden, non-sexually intimate photos of Hideyoshi, hidden around his bedroom, like his dirtiest secrets. He didn't know exactly why he hid them like that, but he felt like if anyone ever found out about them it would ruin his reputation or something. Or maybe they'd try to buy the photos from him, and he wouldn't have any excuse to refuse, but he couldn't let that happen. Or God forbid his family find them, his siblings? He'd never hear the end of it. His older brothers would mock him forever. 

No. Best keep his personal collection a secret. 

—

"Kouta, why do you take so many pictures of me?" Hideyoshi asked. They were in class, but it was Classical Japanese, and neither of them really cared about it. 

"There's a really high demand, so I can charge more when I sell them," Kouta said. "I don't know if you've noticed Hideyoshi, but you're the prettiest girl—well, person, in school." Kouta felt his cheeks get hot, and something was fluttering around inside his abdomen, like a swarm of wasps or something. Had he really just said that? 

"I am?" Hideyoshi cocked his head to the side, and looked thoughtful. Kouta's fingers itched to take a picture, but his camera had been confiscated earlier. "Still with as many pictures as you take, you must be over-saturating the market, am I right? Eventually people will no longer be willing to pay what I can only assume are exorbitant fees."

"Nah," Kouta waved him off, turning his head away so as not to be enticed by Hideyoshi's overwhelming adorability. "As long as you keep wearing those costumes you love so much, I'll have enough new material that no one will get bored. Not that they could get bored anyway, I mean it's _you_ after all." The wasps came back with a vengeance. What was with him today, saying all these embarrassing things?

"I suppose that's true. Create enough variety and demand will increase in tandem." Hideyoshi sighed and leaned forward on his desk. "I overheard some guy complaining about your prices. He said he thought you charged more for my image because you had a crush on me, but I knew that was absurd." 

"Totally," Kouta scoffed. He didn't have a crush on Hideyoshi. He never got crushes. He wasn't the crush type. He loved all girls equally, but not in a romantic way, in a 'what color are your panties' way. To say he was attracted to Hideyoshi wouldn't be a lie, but it was true in the same way that he was attracted to all the girls he photographed. It was purely sexual. It wasn't like he wanted to date any of them. Dating girls was just a hassle, having to pay for everything, and pretend to care about them, and hold their hand in public so they don't get lost, or whatever the reason was that couples held hands, just seemed sweaty and inconvenient to him. 

But that was dating _girls_ , wasn't it? Hideyoshi wasn't a girl, so maybe dating him would be different. He likes to be seen as manly, so they'd probably take turns paying or something, and Kouta would go to all his plays like always, except they'd be a couple instead of just friends, and he'd get to brag about his notgirlfriend being such a great actor, and Hideyoshi didn't seem like the clingy type, so he wouldn't be constantly hanging off his arm. Plus Hideyoshi would be totally into Kouta's thing for costumes, that was just a fact. 

Come to think of it, maybe dating Hideyoshi wouldn't be so bad. 

Not that he wanted to, obviously, because he was definitely _not_ crushing on Hideyoshi. 

—

"Hey, Kouta, do you have any more pictures of Hideyoshi?" Akihisa asked, coming up to Kouta after class. 

"Of course, loyal customer." Kouta selected three of his more recent prints, taken during swim lessons in gym class. Nothing particularly special about them, except that Hideyoshi was stunning as always, and wearing a girls' swimsuit because for some reason the school wouldn't give him trunks. 

"Ahh... Hideyoshi's so pretty! I have such a crush," Akihisa said, smiling like he was getting a really great massage or something. Kouta's absent frown deepened when Akihisa placed a hand on his cheek and let out of lovestruck sigh. What was he, a twelve-year-old girl? How stupid. 

"Two thousand yen for the set," Kouta demanded. Maybe Hideyoshi was right about him having exorbitant prices. 

"Wait, isn't that more than usual?" Akihisa's smile faded into an awkward grimace, and his eye twitched. 

"These are swimsuit shots, you think they're only worth the usual price?" Kouta's eyes darkened. He didn't really think a swimsuit made all that much difference, for other girls, maybe, but not Hideyoshi, who looked gorgeous in anything. Still though, he wanted Akihisa to suffer for some reason. Probably because he was an idiot. Yeah, that must've been it. Akihisa deserved to suffer for being an idiot. 

"You can't give me a discount because we're friends?" Akihisa pleaded, pouting.

"Two thousand yen _is_ a discount."

"Oh. In that case... thank you Kouta." Akihisa pulled out his wallet and handed the money to Kouta, taking the pictures. Yeah. A true idiot. 

—

"So, Kouta, do you wish to work at my house, or your own?" Hideyoshi asked just after the end of school bell rang.

"What?" 

"For the history project we were assigned today. Do you not pay any attention?" Kouta shook his head, at which Hideyoshi rolled his eyes and placed one hand on his hip. "The teacher made the two of us a pair for this project. We're supposed to work together to research the Yayoi period, compose an essay, and put together a creative presentation to perform before the class. 

"We have a few weeks, but we should at least accomplish _something_ today, because I have an audition this weekend, and I'd like be prepared for callbacks, just in case. So I ask again, do you wish to work at my house or your own?" 

"Uh... mine, I guess, since it's closer," Kouta said. 

"How exactly do you know where I live?" 

"I'm like a ninja, Hideyoshi, a master of stealth and intelligence gathering." 

"So, like a stalker," Hideyoshi sighed and turned toward the door, letting his hand drop. "Alas, perhaps you can put those skills to work on our history project, although I suppose that's likely asking too much of you." 

"I don't know what alas means, but oh well." He pulled his bag onto his shoulder. "We can walk together, if you don't have any drama club stuff after school today. Even if you do I might wait up for you; there are some really hot girls in the drama club."

"The club does not meet today," Hideyoshi said, and he almost sounded... forlorn, if that was the word for it, or disappointed at least, since Kouta wasn't 100% sure he knew what forlorn meant any more than he understood 'alas'. Probably upset that he didn't have rehearsals or anything. He sure loved that stuff, it was pretty adorable. "So shall we?" 

Kouta followed him out of the classroom, then out of the school, then took the lead to escort Hideyoshi to his home. It was a pleasant walk, and pleasantly quiet. Kouta was never very talkative, so it was nice that silence with Hideyoshi never really got awkward. 

"Oh, I gotta warn you about my siblings," Kouta broke the silence as they neared his house.

"What about them?" Hideyoshi asked.

"They're my siblings..." Kouta scrunched his eyebrows, confused about why more explanation could possibly be necessary. "You have a sister don't you? So you get it."

"Oh, I see," Hideyoshi seemed to understand if his mildly horrified, faraway expression was any indicator. "How many siblings do you have?"

"Two older brothers and a little sister," Kouta said. They were on his block now, his house in sight. "I'm not sure if they'll even be home, but we should be prepared, in case they are." Hideyoshi nodded, steeling himself. They headed down the walk. Kouta reached toward the handle, and opened the front door. In they stepped, taking off their shoes. 

"What's this?" It was one of Kouta's older brothers, Youta, and his other brother Souta was close by as well. "Kouta's never brought a girl home before."

"She's cute, lil bro," Souta said. "Don't suppose you'd be willing to share?"

"I'm not a girl," said Hideyoshi sternly, looking thoroughly displeased. "I am Kouta's classmate, Hideyoshi, and I'm merely here to work on a project, nothing more, so don't go getting the wrong idea." 

"Yeah guys, lay off," Kouta said, backing up his friend. 

"Wait, are you seriously a guy?" Souta asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes!" Hideyoshi insisted. 

"No," Kouta said at the same time. "But he's not a girl either. He's just Hideyoshi." Hideyoshi smiled at him, ever so slightly, and Kouta almost missed it. Then he almost smiled back, but he didn't. 

"Uh... right." Neither of his brothers looked like they really understood, but Youta recovered fairly quickly to say, "I knew there was no way this twerp could ever manage to get a girl to come home with him."

"Yeah, especially since he's such a perv," Souta agreed. "I have no idea where he gets that from." 

"Your brothers beguile me with their infinite charm," Hideyoshi said, his voice positively dripping with sarcasm. 

"Come on dude, you _know_ we're more charming than quiet Kouta." Souta and Youta both laughed. 

"Come on Hideyoshi, let's go work on our project." Kouta grabbed Hideyoshi's wrist and dragged him out of the room. He had no interest whatsoever in doing some dumb history project, but he had even less desire to talk to his brothers anymore, or worse let them talk to Hideyoshi. That would be a complete nightmare.

—

Kouta considered Hideyoshi a friend. Kouta didn't consider many people friends, and his criteria for friendship was a little different from most people's. He didn't gauge friendship based on time spent together or the duration or quality of conversation. In fact, once he considered someone a friend, they could go months without speaking and Kouta would still think of them as a friend.

For Kouta, a friend was just someone who wasn't totally draining to be around, and Hideyoshi definitely fit the bill. There were a couple of people Kouta considered friends whether he liked them or not, like Akihisa, whom he'd known for so long that the idiot had managed to worm his way into one of Kouta's friendship slots with nothing more appealing than persistence and unending reserves of obliviousness. 

Akihisa became Kouta's friend by force, but Hideyoshi was someone Kouta actually liked, so even though Kouta didn't care about quality time, they ended up spending it together anyway, both at school and sometimes even outside of school. But it was at school that something happened which made Kouta's heart drop into his stomach. 

Kouta was helping his friend run lines for his rehearsal. Apparently, he was having a lot of trouble with these two scenes, kept mixing up the order of the lines, so he'd asked Kouta to help him, but so far he hadn't messed up once. They stood in the back of their classroom during lunch break, Kouta standing against the windows, Hideyoshi doing his whole dramatic thing, practicing the movements, blocking, or whatever.

"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt, but may I talk to Hideyoshi for a moment?" It was a guy from another class who'd intruded on the pair's practice. Kouta recognized him. He'd sold him pictures of Hideyoshi, a few others too, but he'd only wanted pictures of Hideyoshi last time. That information didn't bode well with Kouta for some reason. 

"What is it you want?" Hideyoshi sighed.

"Can we talk privately?" the other guy requested.

"No," Hideyoshi leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. "Let us get this over with quickly so I can return to running lines. Now, say your piece." 

"Well... I'm... I... I really like you Hideyoshi, and I was wondering if you'd go out with me... sometime..." 

"I am not a girl," Hideyoshi told him. 

"What?" 

"And more pertinently, I have no interest whatsoever in dating you. Please leave me and do not despair. Like I said, I'm not a girl, so I doubt you'd want me anyway. You were simply confused." 

"Eh... right... sorry for wasting your time, Hideyoshi..." The guy looked positively crestfallen as he trudged away, back to his own classroom.

"Don't you think that was a little cold, Hideyoshi?" Kouta asked, staring after the guy.

"With the frequency this happens to me, I suppose I have become apathetic," Hideyoshi said, turning back to Kouta so they could resume their practice. "It's nothing more than an annoyance to me now." 

"Exactly how often do you get confessions like this?" Kouta couldn't help but ask, even though a voice in the back of his head warned him he didn't want to know the answer. 

"A few times a month," Hideyoshi said despondently. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Right..." Kouta wouldn't pry. He wouldn't push. He wouldn't try to force an—"Is it always guys?" 

"No, sometimes it's girls, but I always turn them down."

"Why?" After this, Kouta definitely wouldn't make Hideyoshi talk about it anymore. 

"Because I haven't any interest in them." Hideyoshi looked like he was growing more and more embarrassed and uncomfortable by the second. 

"Is there someone you do have an interest in?" _Dammit Kouta, let it go_. But he couldn't. With every question answered, Kouta grew more and more despairing, and he couldn't explain why, and he couldn't stop himself either, even though it made his chest ache and the swarm of wasps awaken in his abdomen and buzz about like they had a score to settle. 

"Can we please not talk about this any longer?" Hideyoshi asked, his voice squeaking uncharacteristically. "I'd like to get back to running lines." 

"Right, yeah, sorry." Kouta said, and he saw Hideyoshi's shoulders drop their tension. He picked up where they left off with Hideyoshi's queue line. 

—

When Kouta got home the following day, he was looking forward to the relief that would come with not being at school, with hiding in his room, away from his family, and wallowing in the inexplicable but simultaneously overwhelming self-pity he'd been feeling since lunch. Unfortunately, Kouta had no such luck. 

"I found another one!" he heard his little sister Hinata declare. Her voice was coming from the direction of Kouta's room, and something heavy, like a stone, settled in the pit of his stomach. What had she found? A dirty magazine? One of his sexy costumes? His camera filled with pictures of girls? Pictures... no... she couldn't have found...

"Nice, Hinata, let's see it." Oh no. Youta was there too?

"Aww! It's so cute!" And Souta? This was his worst nightmare! He sprinted to his room, and there, all his fears were realized. His siblings were crouched down on his floor looking at four of his precious private photos of Hideyoshi. 

"Those are private, get out!" Kouta demanded, desperate to end this as quickly as possible. 

"Private, huh?" Youta smirked. "Because they're a lot more tame than what we've come to expect from you." 

"Of course, they were also a lot better hidden," Souta matched his expression. "Almost like you actually _care_ about them, about him."

"Kouta, he's really pretty," Hinata said, walking up to him with an expression full of wonder. "Is he your girlfriend?" 

"No, he's nothing!" Kouta's intestines knotted themselves in response to that boldfaced lie, and the stone in his stomach grew heavier. "Now get out of my room!" He kicked his older brothers hard in their sides and threw all three of his siblings out by force, locking his bedroom door behind them. He didn't have the top score in PE for nothing. 

He picked the four photos up off the floor. Hideyoshi reading with the sunset behind him; Hideyoshi getting scratched by a stray cat; Hideyoshi getting a little too overzealous while practicing a monologue on the roof of the school; Hideyoshi eating a pastry, looking happy, with crumbs on his face and shirt. Hideyoshi being beautiful, being humanly imperfect, being Hideyoshi. 

Kouta crumpled to the floor in a tightly woven ball of anxiety, breathing heavily. Was this a panic attack? Was he starting to have a panic attack? He'd never had a panic attack before. Was it just adrenaline? Or fear? What was he supposed to do for a panic attack? Was it lie down and try not to move? No. Steady his breathing, and try to slow his heart rate. Go zen. 

"Hey Kouta, falling for a guy like Hideyoshi is nothing to be embarrassed about," Souta said through the door. "Even I thought he was cute when I first saw him, no shame there, bro." 

"He's not a guy. He's _Hideyoshi_ ," Kouta mumbled. He wasn't sure if he was loud enough to hear, but apparently they got the message. 

"Right, right... but even if he was a guy, it'd be okay, Kouta," Youta said gently. "I know we tease, but in the end, we won't think less of you for who you love." 

"I'm not gay!" 

"Alright, okay, we believe you," Youta was obviously just trying to placate him, but it didn't make Kouta feel any better. His hands were trembling, and his eyes stung. Was he crying? "But even if you were, that'd be fine with us." 

"What the hell were you even doing in here‽" Kouta demanded. 

"Your door was open, and Hinata noticed something on the floor under your desk, and went to pick it up. It was one of your pictures," Souta explained. "Then we got home and she showed it to us, and... well... we sorta made a game of finding as many as we could. We're sorry." 

"But if it's any comfort, they're really good photos!" Youta said. It wasn't any comfort. "You're getting great at photography." 

"Yeah!" Souta agreed. There was a long pause. Kouta wasn't sure if they were waiting for him to come out, either literally or metaphorically, or if they'd left, or what. Then he heard whispers, and the next voice he heard clearly was Hinata's. 

"Big brother," she said. "It's okay if you like that person in the pictures. He's really _really_ pretty. I can't wait to meet him." 

"I don't _like_ him," Kouta insisted. "He's just a friend." 

"Then why did you have those photos of him?" Kouta didn't answer, he just shouted at them again to leave him alone. He didn't come down to dinner that night. He knew his brothers would feel guilty enough to cover for him with their parents, although they might say he was having a sexuality crisis. Kouta couldn't have been more upset if they did say that. 

He still felt sick with worry, but he wasn't having a sexuality crisis. That much he was sure of. What he _was_ having was worse. It was a romantic crisis, and none of his family's assurances made him feel any better. 

—

After failing to convince his parents that he'd suddenly caught the flu, Kouta found himself at school the following morning, no less upset or conflicted than he was the previous day. After what happened with the photos, and his siblings... he felt like he was sinking in quicksand just thinking about it, his body consumed by a heavy, ice-cold, all encompassing pressure which was in the process of swallowing him whole. 

The pleasant warmth in his chest which he usually felt upon meeting Hideyoshi every morning was absent for once, replaced by a sense of dread and misplaced anger. Inwardly, he begged Hideyoshi to leave him alone, just for the day... or maybe a few days... a week... maybe forever, but that didn't happen. 

Hideyoshi walked right up to him to talk before class started. Kouta hated everything about him, from the gentle sway of his hips as he walked, to the shine in his strikingly green eyes, to his delicate features and smooth skin, everything. He was so small. Petite. Kouta could wrap him up tightly and never let go. Except that he wouldn't, because he hated him. He wanted to wrap him up and smother him until he stopped breathing. Except that he didn't, not really. 

"Good morning Kouta," Hideyoshi greeted. "Are you feeling alright? You look a bit off." 

"You trying to tell me I'm ugly?" Kouta snapped. Obviously that wasn't what Hideyoshi meant, but Kouta was wound so tightly that the tiniest thing was going to set him off. 

"No, of course not!" Hideyoshi's brows drew together, and he took a step back with a start. "I'm just a bit worried about you..."

"Well don't be." Kouta turned his back on Hideyoshi and walked to his desk. Hideyoshi followed. "What do you want?"

"Well... I was going to invite you to my play." He fished a flyer out of his bag and smiled apprehensively at Kouta. "Opening night is tomorrow, and we close Sunday after next. It's not a school production, but one with a community playhouse, and I'd be happy to reserve you a ticket. It's my first professional role, and I'm really excited about it." 

"No, thanks." 

"What?" Hideyoshi's face fell, and he looked surprised, but Kouta could swear he also saw something like hurt flash behind his eyes. 

"How much clearer could I be?" Kouta snubbed, looking away and turning his nose up like he couldn't think of a worse waste of time. It hurt to act that way toward Hideyoshi, made his chest... his heart... ache, but he could see no other escape. "I don't want to watch your stupid play." 

"But... Kouta, you come to all my plays..." The sadness in his voice made Kouta pause. He couldn't look Hideyoshi in the eye. He couldn't do it, or he'd break. 

"Yeah, out of pity," Kouta tried to scoff, but his voice just sounded dead, void of anything resembling humanity. It hurt himself to hear his voice like that, especially directed toward... "The truth is I couldn't give less of a crap about theatre, so why don't you bother somebody else with your lame hobby." 

"I indulge your photography, don't I?" Hideyoshi sounded angry, but also like he was about to cry. "What happened? I knew you were a creep, but now you're an ass as well? What's going on with you? I... I thought we... were friends..." 

"I don't think so." And that was the final straw. That was the line that shattered Kouta's heart. He couldn't take any more of this. This was emotional self harm. If Hideyoshi didn't leave immediately he had about three seconds before Kouta broke down crying in his arms. "Why don't you leave me alone." 

"Fine." And Kouta was wrong. The way Hideyoshi's voice broke when he relented, when he turned and left the classroom... _that_ was the final straw. 

—

Kouta avoided Hideyoshi for the rest of the week after that. He stopped taking pictures of him, and limited himself to just the girls at the school. Hideyoshi noticed the change within a day, but was clearly not planning to ask about it. As obvious as it was that Kouta was avoiding him, he made no attempt to approach him, and Kouta couldn't blame him at all, after how badly he'd treated his friend.

Kouta's customers were confused when he said he was out of stock when they asked for pictures of Hideyoshi, but even after he got yelled at, even after Akihisa moaned and complained, he made no attempt to photograph Hideyoshi anymore. 

After over two weeks of this, the only contact Hideyoshi had attempted was to leave a flyer for his play in Kouta locker with a note saying, _I'll still reserve you a seat if you want._ Kouta left it in his locker. He should have thrown it away, but he couldn't bring himself to. He kept looking at it, every time he had to change his shoes. 

"What's that?" Yuuji asked him after school, just before they were going to leave for the weekend. 

"An invitation to Hideyoshi's play, it closes on Sunday," he said softly. 

"Are you still avoiding him?" Yuuji asked, clearly brimming with exasperation. "Just go to the damn play. _You_ obviously want to, and _he_ obviously wants you to, otherwise he wouldn't have invited you. I don't know what the hell is up with you two, but clearly there's something you need to resolve, so just do it already and quit moping around." 

"I can't... I..." What? He'd hurt him? He was afraid? Yeah, but he couldn't admit that to Yuuji, he'd live in embarrassment for the rest of his life. 

"You what? You're too chicken? You're the scum of the earth?" Yuuji scoffed. "Yeah, everyone knows that already, and Hideyoshi knows that better than damn near anybody, and yet, for some godforsaken reason, he wants you to go see his fricken play. So just go already, and quit being such a baby. Geez, get a grip." Yuuji swung his bag over his shoulder and sauntered off, heading home. 

He couldn't, could he? Not after what he'd said, but Yuuji was right. Even after all that, Hideyoshi said he was still willing to reserve a seat. But was Kouta man enough to take him up on it? The last showing was on Sunday... what if it was too late?

—

After spending all day deliberating, Kouta found himself sprinting to the community theater on Sunday evening. He was almost too late, but he got to the box office just as the lady was about to hang up the _closed_ sign.

"I'm sorry sir, but there are no more last minute ticket sales," the woman said. She had a nice, curvy figure, with an excellent rack, but Kouta was too distracted to even notice, except in his periphery. 

"Please miss," Kouta asked... begged really, he had run all the way there, and was rather desperate to get in. It was the only way to fix his friendship with Hideyoshi, and that was more important than his pride. "My best friend Hideyoshi asked me to come, even after I was a jerk for him, and this is the last showing. You have to let me in!"

"Hideyoshi?" The woman frowned at him, and looked at him like she was examining a subject in a lab. "You wouldn't happen to be Kouta Tsuchiya, would you?"

"Yes, that's me! He said he'd reserve me a seat, but I don't know if its too late or..." The woman smiled at him.

"I have a ticket for you," she said. "Hideyoshi's reserved a seat for you at every performance, but you never claimed it. Honestly, I was starting to pity him, but I'm glad you finally decided show up. Here you are, try not to make too much noise when you go in, the show will be starting very shortly." She handed him his ticket, stripping off a post-it not stuck to it which said, _reserved_ _for Kouta Tsuchiya_.

"Thank you so much, ma'am." He accepted the ticked with a bow, and hurried into the auditorium. 

The show was great, and very emotional. Your standard story of love lost and found, and Hideyoshi played the teenaged niece of the leading man. He was really good, totally inhabiting the role, and Kouta was so incredibly proud of him. 

When the show ended, there was a standing ovation, and Kouta applauded louder than anyone. So loudly, in fact, that many of the actors took notice, and when Hideyoshi saw him, he beamed. As the audience began to leave, Kouta lingered, and the actress who played the maid came up to him and invited him backstage. 

"You're Kouta Tsuchiya, aren't you?" she asked, and he nodded. "Hideyoshi was so happy when he saw you in the audience tonight. He made sure to reserve you a seat at every showing, but you never came. To be honest, some of us were beginning to doubt that you even existed. Now why would you do that to your friend?" She smacked him on the arm and gave him an angry face.

"Well... we had kind of a fight before the show opened," Kouta admitted. "I wasn't sure if he would really want me here." 

"Of course he did!" She smacked his arm again. He didn't protest; he definitely deserved it. "Now why don't you come backstage, we've all been curious to meet Hideyoshi's friend, so I'm sure no one would mind. They'll all be done changing by now, anyway." Kouta agreed and followed her back. 

"Um, Hideyoshi?" Kouta called out once they were back there. 

"Kouta?" Hideyoshi grinned and walked over to him, jittering with excitement. Kouta didn't know whether it was from the performance, or from seeing him, but he liked to think it was the latter. "What are you doing back here?"

"So you're Kouta!" remarked the leading man. He walked over and bopped Kouta on the head. "Why the hell'd you stand Hideyoshi up all this time? You've had two weeks to come, so what the hell took ya so long, huh?" 

"Yeah, seriously," agreed the man who played the leading lady's childhood friend. All their names would have been in the program, but he'd showed up so late that he didn't get one, so he didn't know who they were. 

"Don't you know he's been waiting for you all this time?" asked the lading lady's mother. 

"We were starting to get really embarrassed for him," the leading lady said.

"And now _I'm_ getting really embarrassed for me," Hideyoshi mumbled awkwardly. "Come on guys, it's alright. He came didn't he?"

"Well if he hadn't, we'd'a tracked him down and kicked his ass," the leading man said, and the look he gave Kouta made it clear that they still could if need be. 

"Come on, Kouta, let's retire before they pummel you," Hideyoshi suggested, and Kouta agreed, following him out of the building. They stopped outside, under a street lamp. "I may have defended you Kouta, but you aren't out of the woods yet. I still want to know what on earth was going on with you before."

"About that... I'm really sorry, Hideyoshi!" Kouta bowed deeply, startling Hideyoshi for a moment. "I was... going through a personal crisis, but I shouldn't have lashed out at you. It was totally shitty of me, and I'm really truly sorry!" 

"Hey, calm down!" Hideyoshi said. "It's alright. I forgive you. I just wanted to know you were okay. What kind of personal crisis?" 

"Well... that sort of brings me to the second thing I wanted to tell you, or ask you..." Kouta stood up, but kept his eyes firmly on the ground.

"Oh? What would that be?" Hideyoshi eyed him curiously, and took a tentative step toward him. 

"Well..." He was probably going to refuse, and turn Kouta away, but Yuuji had been right. Kouta needed to quit being a baby and man up. "I... I think I actually love you Hideyoshi, and I want to be your boyfriend." He heard Hideyoshi gasp, and prepared for the worst. What he was not prepared for was Hideyoshi reaching into his pocket to steal the camera he'd brought with him, then taking a selfie of himself kissing Kouta on the cheek. 

"That would be most agreeable." Kouta blushed furiously, and he saw the pink of Hideyoshi's cheeks darken as well. 

"Wait, seriously?" 

"Yes, seriously," Hideyoshi grinned brightly at Kouta's dumbfounded expression. "I've actually been waiting for you to ask me for a while." Kouta jumped forward and pulled Hideyoshi into a tight hug. It was everything he wanted it to be. 

The photo Hideyoshi took of their first kiss, and yes, even though it was just on the cheek, Kouta totally counted it, was not that great. The lighting was weird since it was dark out and they were under a street lamp, and the shadows were harsh because of the high angle, not to mention it was a little bit out of focus, but even with all those factors working against it, that photo was Kouta's favorite by far. 

**Author's Note:**

> I headcanon Hideyoshi as he/him non-binary, and Kouta as grey/aromantic, so that's how they're written in this, but I probably won't write them the same way in all the fics I write, because I do plan to write more, and those headcanons don't lend themselves perfectly to shipping. 
> 
> For the handful of people that read this, please comment what kind of story you'd like me to write for these two next. I was thinking of doing an AU, but idk just how alternate I want the universe to be so lmk what you think. And also, please tell me if there's anything else you think I should tag, because it's completely possible, even likely, that I missed something.


End file.
